


Wanderer

by eerian_sadow



Series: Heliospresso [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Injuries, coffeeshop au before the coffeeshop, looking for a place to call home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 01:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30131862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: After receiving a medical discharge, Sideswipe is finally seeing the world.
Series: Heliospresso [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123412
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Wanderer

Vos was beautiful and expensive. It was a little like Iacon that way, though the hotels weren’t nearly as overpriced back home. A two week stay had used up almost all of the money in his savings, and while it had been worth it, Sideswipe knew he would probably be sleeping in bus depots and train stations for a little while before he stayed anywhere nice again.

The bed in the hotel room he was checking out of had been a little like heaven, though. Definitely worth the money.

But it was time to move on to somewhere else he hadn’t gotten to see despite the Army promising that he would get to see the world when he enlisted. Polyhex and Kaon had been nice enough, until the rebellion anyway, but he had always wanted something else. Once he was discharged, without even a tent to his name, it had seemed like the best time to actually do the exploring he always wanted before finally settling down somewhere.

A bellhop rushed to take his bag as he approached the door. “I can load that into your vehicle for you, sir!”

“Thanks, kid, but I’m walking.” He smiled and pulled a few bills out of his pocket. The bellhop looked shocked when he put them in his hand, but the kid had been a big help while he’d been in town, right down to knowing where the best breakfast was served every morning. “Train station’s over on Windsong, right?”

“Yes sir, Windsong Avenue and Thirty Third Street.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank you! I hope we see you again, soon!”

They probably wouldn’t, unless he had a mysteriously rich uncle that left a fortune upon death, but this one visit had been incredible. “Maybe. I hope so.”

Sideswipe stepped out the door and into the floral scented breeze on the street. That had taken some getting used to, the way Vos was always a little windy and smelled like the flowers that grew along the roads no matter where you went, but it was nice as far as city quirks went.

It was a short walk from the hotel to the train station, and there was a young man standing just outside wearing the logo of a chain cafe and handing out samples. He took one with a smile and sipped at the coffee as he made his way to the departure board. Sideswipe didn’t know if he wanted soonest departing or shortest distance, so he took his time reading over the listed destinations for several minutes.

“Where the frag is Yuss?” He blinked as one of the lines flipped from Iacon to a destination he had never heard of. He set his coffee cup down on the floor and pulled his phone out of his pocket to look it up. It was a small beach town on the Rust Sea, apparently, and not too far from Vos. He hadn’t visited a beach since he and Sunny were small, and that had only been for an hour or so. It sounded like it might be all right.

He picked his cup back up and drank the last of the coffee. Then he tossed it in the trash as he looked for the ticket window. It actually took him a moment to find it, nestled in with a series of souvenir stores and the coffee shop.

“Good morning!” The clerk greeted him with the same bright cheerfulness everyone is Vos seemed to have. “Where are you heading?”

“Dunno yet. How much is a one way ticket to Yuss?”

“Let me look…” the clerk typed a few buttons on their console. “Vos to Yuss, one way, would be fifty shanix.”

“And what about to Praxus?”

“Three hundred and twenty shanix.”

Sideswipe grinned ruefully. He knew that everything about Praxus was expensive, but he hadn’t realized that just getting there was so bad. “Okay. Yuss it is, then. Just the one ticket, please.”  
When he stepped off the train, Sideswipe was hit with the smell of salt water and humid air. He took a deep breath to make sure it didn’t seem to be irritating his lung and then moved off the platform. The beach might be nice, but he hadn’t realized that there would be so much moisture in the air and he did not want to find out the hard way that his damaged lung couldn’t handle it. He would have to be mindful.

* * *

The station in Yuss was small so it was only a few steps to the door and then he was standing in brilliant sunlight that sparkled off the water he could see across the street. He looked around for a moment, trying to decide which direction to walk.

“Hey, mister, give you a tour for five shanix!” A kid with dark hair grinned at him from the bench next to the door.

“I don't need a tour, kiddo. Just tell me which way the hotel is?”

The kid wrinkled his nose. “You don’t want the hotel. They have bugs. You should go to Spinel’s instead. Down that way, about three blocks.”

He looked to the left as the kid pointed and then he nodded. “Thanks. And where’s the best place to get lunch?”

“Heliospresso, on Oceanview!”

“Thanks, kid.” Sideswipe reached into his pocket and pulled out the coins remaining there. He dropped them into the kid’s waiting hand with a smile. “Good hustle.”

“Thanks, mister!”

Sideswipe followed the kid’s vague directions and walked down the street until he reached a shabby looking motel with a sign that read “Spinel’s Motel, weekly and monthly rates available.” It didn’t look like the best place, but he’d slept in worse. And if it was too expensive, he could probably stay down on the beach for a night or two and use his backpack as a pillow.

“Hi, welcome to Yuss!” The young woman behind the desk perked up the instant he stepped through the door to the office. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Uh, no. It was kind of an impulse trip.”

“No problem! Our standard rate is thirty shanix a night, but we have weekly and monthly deals if you’ll be staying for a while.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be here.” He pulled out his wallet and checked the money he still had in cash. Thirty shanix was a good rate for a motel like this, but if they only took cards he might be in trouble. “You take cash?”

“We do, yes.”

“Okay. Um, lets say three nights and if I like here we can extend it.”

* * *

  
Once he’d dropped his bag in the motel room, Sideswipe stepped back out onto the street. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up his map application. Oceanview was clearly marked on the map, and looked more like Main Street than the actual Main Street. He nodded to himself at that realization and then typed in a request for directions to Heliospresso.

He started walking as soon as they loaded, and realized he wasn’t noticing the smell of salt in the air anymore. He wondered at that for a few moments, because he had never adjusted to a city that fast in his life. Then he was stepping onto a brightly painted street that was probably absolutely packed in the summer.

“Welcome to Yuss!” a sign at the end of the street proclaimed. Sideswipe didn’t give it much thought as he passed it, but that his brother would have hated it. He was more concerned with filling his stomach and maybe finding some coffee; his freebie in Vos had triggered a craving.

He didn’t make it to Heliospresso before he was stopped by a street vendor selling kabobs. They smelled amazing and were the same style as the ones he and Sunny would sometimes get just off base in Kaon. nostalgia overwhelmed his desire for the best meal in town, and he ordered two made with meat and fruit. When they were ready, he found a bench and sat down to eat, happily remembering the better days they’d had before the miner’s rebellion.

Then he dozed in the sun for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth on his face.

When his phone gave the low battery chirp, Sideswipe opened his eyes with a sigh. He had forgotten to turn off the map when he sat down and now he was going to have to risk losing his map or go back for his charger before finding some coffee.

“Excuse me,” he shouted at the kabob vendor. “Where can i get some coffee?”

“Cosmos’ shop, two blocks further! Can’t miss it, there’s a big sun on the sign.”

“Thank you!” He turned the map off and stood up. If it was only two more blocks to the coffee shop, he’d be able to find his way back to the motel without a problem, even if his phone shut off.

Sideswipe walked the two blocks slowly, enjoying the sun and the gentle breeze that started blowing in from the direction of the ocean. So far, Yuss was very soothing, and he thought he’d really enjoy it if it stayed that way.

When he reached the shop with the sun on the sign, he chuckled a little. Underneath the sun, in swirling golden letters, was the name “Heliospresso.” He really should have expected that a restaurant with a name like that would have coffee.

When he stepped toward the door, though, he saw something that made him pause. A sun bleached “help wanted” sign was hanging in the window. He thought about all the money he had spent in Vos, and considered his old job in high school with the Star Shots chain. If they made more coffee than food, he just might be able to make back some of what he’d spent in Vos--assuming the manager was willing to take a chance on a guy who had been unemployed and technically homeless for five years.

Well, there was nothing to do but ask. He reached for the handle and opened the door.


End file.
